A/N: Thanks again to every reviewer. I loved reading what everyone had to say. Sorry for the delay in this chapter...I needed to take a mini-break.

I'd like to give a special thanks to my writer friend N. She is an extremely talented Chair writer, but still helped me with something in this chapter. Now in this fandom...that shows true friendship ;) My thanks also goes to Spiros and last, but certainly not least, Sara.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl or any of its characters.

Ever since they played their twenty questions game, Blair found herself noticing every little thing about Dan. The way he takes his coffee, the way he tucks a pen above his ear, the way he smells after taking a shower—

The latter had occurred unintentionally the first week of October. Dan had been living in the Penthouse for almost a month and they were finally used to each other's schedules. Blair would always arrive home before Dan, as her classes were in the afternoon, while he would arrive home later after work. More often than not they would eat separately, and instead occasionally catch up over a glass of wine. But the more Blair found herself developing a...crush on Dan, the more she distanced herself. Not only would it be completely irresponsible of her, but it would be entirely inappropriate to even think about dating a man she lived with. And so she spent more time outside of the Penthouse than in. Although she hated the fact that she was giving up time at home, it was utterly impossible to think straight when he was around. And so on the exterior, she returned to her roots—the snappy, cunning, bitchy Blair Waldorf.

But on the inside, it was becoming exceptionally hard for her to keep her feelings at bay. And seeing a wet Dan Humphrey did nothing to help the matter. In one of the first days of October, Blair's afternoon art history class had been cancelled, and so she returned home for a few relaxing hours. Serena would be arriving the next day for the weekend, thanks to a short Columbus Day break, and Blair knew things would get busy.

After grabbing a snack and practically skipping upstairs, Blair decided that a bath sounded like a glorious idea. Dorota was done for the day, Dan was at work, and for the first time in what seemed like weeks, she had the house to herself.

After dropping her purse and kicking off her shoes, she walked into her bathroom to draw a bath. Once the temperature was perfectly hot, she shed her clothes, already feeling more relaxed. Her eyes caught her reflection in the mirror and a blush rose to her cheeks. For a single girl, she was wearing some rather sexy lingerie. She laughed at herself—it's not like Dan (or any other man) would be seeing it.

With a sigh, she remembered the bath salts that Serena had stolen the week she moved out. They were in Dan's bathroom now, and she had forgotten to take them back. Knowing Dan was at work, Blair didn't think twice about walking across the hall, still clad in her lingerie. His door was closed, as it usually was, but she still cautiously opened it. She felt like a little girl again, tip-toeing into her parents room while they were gone—afraid to get caught. She had been in this room millions of times before, but his foreign belongings and masculine smell blanketed the space.

Remembering her rising bathwater, she shook her thoughts from Dan and opened the door to the bathroom—

"Blair!"

She would have screamed. She should have screamed. But she was in such shock, she stood immobilized.

Standing in front of her was a very naked and very wet Dan Humphrey.

Sure, his towel was covering the bottom half of him; but Blair's view now showed significantly more of his body than she had seen before.

Fuck.

Dan broke the silence again. "What are you doing?" His eyes drifted hungrily down her body. "And...what are you wearing?"

Blair closed her eyes, registering that—yet again—she was giving Dan a very generous view of her body. Her heart plummeted at the thought of what she was wearing.

"I...I needed bath salts. S—Serena took them." She was wringing her hands nervously. Why did he keep catching her off guard? Angrily, she remembered this was her house. She crossed her arms, feeling a little better about covering her body. "And I could ask you the same thing! What are you doing here?" she retorted icily.

"This is my bathroom!"

Blair scoffed. "Why aren't you at work? You're supposed to be at work!"

He couldn't help but laugh. "Blair, I came home early. I can do that, right?"

Her eyes widened at the childish question. "Of course you can! But at least let me know you're here! So I don't—"

"Walk into my bathroom in sexy lingerie?" He was staring at her body again.

Fuming, she grabbed the extra towel off the rack and covered herself. She hoped her flushed face showed anger—not flattery.

Blair looked at the shower and remembered her bath again. With a gasp, she ran out of the bathroom, ignoring the thought of giving him another nice back view. She sighed in relief when she saw dry floors and half-filled tub. She looked at her reflection once more and had to close her eyes. Not only was she pink with embarrassment, but her bra and underwear looked much more scandalous than she remembered. They were lace and transparent and didn't leave much to the imagination. She tore them off and climbed into the tub, not caring about the bath salts any more. Once she was fully submerged, she took a breath and slipped her head under water. She could hear the echo of her heartbeat racing furiously and a sound too loud to be her own heart—like her door...

She heard a muffled, "Blair?" and shot her head out of the water.

"What?" she snapped.

The door creaked open. "I just brought you your—"

"Don't come in!" she shrieked, struggling to cover both her breasts and lower regions of her body. Water splashed everywhere.

He caught a glimpse of her in the bathtub and shut his eyes. "Sorry! I didn't know—"

"I said don't come in!" He closed the door all but an inch.

She saw him through the crack, eyes closed and looking at the ground. She took the opportunity to study his body; he was now clothed, but his hair was a mess of wet curls. And in an irking twist of fate, her anger turned to guilt when she saw his hands.

He was holding her bath salts.

"Sorry..." he sighed, shaking his head. "I was just bringing your bath stuff."

The guilt was rapidly webbing across her chest.

Quietly, she replied, "It's okay. Just...keep your eyes closed and hand them to me. And I swear to god if I even see a millimeter of your eye..."

Dan's mouth twisted into a smile before slowly opening the door.

"Just hold out your hand," Blair said, hesitantly dropping the arm that was covering herself.

Silence ensued, the only sound coming from the bathwater as Blair moved closer to Dan. Her fingers grazed his as she grasped the glass jar. "Thanks."

"Yeah...and sorry again. I'll just leave you...yeah..." He shut the door quickly and Blair was left alone again.

For the rest of the afternoon, Blair stayed in her room; or, she had planned on it. But by nine o'clock she was positively starving, and her snack from the afternoon no longer filled her hunger.

Padding quietly downstairs, she stopped mid-staircase when she saw a light on in the living room. Dan was sitting on the couch working on his laptop. He looked at her. "Hey." He set his computer on the table.

Knowing she couldn't walk back upstairs now, she reached the ground and walked over to stand across from him. "Hey."

Awkward silence stifled the room. He stood up.

"I have an idea," Blair posed quickly, nervous they were now standing eye-to-eye. "Why don't we forget about this afternoon? Forget it ever happened," she said, waving her hand.

"Forget what?"

"The bath salt incident," she said, as if it were obvious.

"But...what if I don't want to?"

The question hung heavy in the air.

"What?" she asked, more breathless than originally planned.

He walked around the coffee table that separated them, never tearing his gaze from her. "What if I don't want to forget about seeing you in lingerie?"

A rush of warmth flooded through Blair. He was walking closer to her.

"Dan—"

She didn't realize she had been moving backwards until her back hit the wall of windows. She looked down and the combination of the drop to the street mixed with Dan's intoxicating scent made her weak in the knees.

"Blair." He was so close to her now; so close that she could feel the heat from his body. "Ever since I saw you in that robe, ever since you said the word luscious, ever since I saw you today in—fuck—sexy as hell lingerie, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

"Dan—"

"What?" he asked, bringing his hands up to cup her face. He leaned down so his lips were lingering over hers. She could feel his breath against her mouth and if he just went a touch closer—

Ding!

The sound pulled Dan back and snapped both of their attentions to the elevator. "B?" a familiar voice called. Blair watched as Serena exited the elevator and walked towards the stairs. She obviously hadn't seen the light on in the living room.

Blair stepped around Dan before Serena could see them. "S?" She was utterly confused to why her friend was here now. "I thought you were arriving tomorrow?"

Serena whipped around. "B! I wanted to surprise you!" She engulfed her friend in a hug. "Surprise!"

Blair couldn't help but relax into her friend's arms. "I'm...so happy you're here!"

And she couldn't mean it more. Seconds ago, she was remarkably close to kissing Dan—and when the elevator stopped him, she forced herself to believe it was for the best. She could not like someone she lived with. She could not like a man so soon after Chuck. She could not like Dan.

Right?

Dan cleared his throat, reminding Blair that the two didn't know each other. She pulled away from Serena. "S, this is Dan, Dan this is Serena."

A sparkle lit in Serena's eye as she looked Dan over. Reaching her hand out, she gave a dazzling smile. "Nice to finally meet you."

Blair reluctantly looked at him for the first time since he had her against the windows. Her gaze went immediately to his lips. She watched him smile back. "Same. I've heard so much about you."

Blair tore her eyes away from him, hoping it would ease the sick feeling arising within her. "S, have you eaten yet? Are you hungry?" She didn't let her answer before saying, "Let's go to the kitchen." She had to get away from him.

Blair walked quickly into the kitchen, sighing in relief when she heard Serena's footsteps follow. She opened the fridge and reached for the bowl of strawberries.

Luscious.

She grabbed an apple instead.

"Serena? Are you hungry?" she asked again, retrieving a knife and cutting board from the cabinets.

Serena stood in place, clearly entertained by Blair's actions. "B, what is up with you?" she giggled. "You're all flustery."

"What?" She scoffed. "No I'm not."

"Okay." The amused smile on Serena's face was becoming annoying. "And I'll have an apple too. With peanut butter."

Blair smiled. "Like when we were younger."

"Yup," Serena said, her grin wide across her face.

Once Blair cut up both apples and placed a dollop of peanut butter on each plate, she joined Serena at the island. She bit into the fruit, happy to finally eat. To think what had transpired since coming down for dinner—

"So Dan seems nice," Serena said, cutting off her thoughts. A coy smile played on her lips. "And you're such a liar, B. He is totally hot!"

"Can we not talk about him?"

Serena looked taken back. "Um...sure."

Blair noticed her apprehension. "I just want to chat about you. How's Brown?"

And with that, both girls started a night of gossip, stories, and long-overdue catching up. Once they were full, they moved from the kitchen to Blair's room, where they laughed until they both fell asleep on her bed. Their impromptu slumber party brought them right back to their Constance days, and it seemed like they weren't almost college graduates for a night. It was exactly what Blair needed to divert her thoughts of Dan, and she could whole-heartedly say that she had never been so happy to see Serena.

::

"Blair." He was so close to her now; so close that she could feel the heat from his body. "Ever since I saw you in that robe, ever since you said the word luscious, ever since I saw you today in—fuck—sexy as hell lingerie, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

"Dan—"

"What?" he asked, bringing his hands up to cup her face. He leaned down so his lips were lingering over hers. She could feel his breath against her mouth and if he just went a touch closer—

Ring!

Blair woke with a start, breathing heavily in both lust and frustration. She turned to her phone—the culprit of the interruption—and decided it must be a sign. If Dan couldn't even kiss her in her dream, he clearly shouldn't be doing it in real life.

But she'd be lying if she said she didn't want to know what his lips felt like.

Still hearing Serena's steady breathing beside her, Blair quieted her phone and carefully climbed out of bed. After showering and changing quickly, she headed downstairs for some much-needed coffee. She and Serena hadn't even drank that much, but combined with what had occurred with Dan, she felt like she was experiencing the worst hangover of her life.

Reaching the kitchen, she stifled a laugh. Of course he would be up.

He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off with a hand. Breezing past him, she poured herself some coffee, taking her time with adding crème and sugar. Finally, she turned to him and narrowed her eyes. "Yes?"

"Blair, about last night—"

"What about last night?"

He let out a breath. "About what I said—"

"Just because things are in your reach Daniel, doesn't mean they can be yours." Her voice had an unmistakable and unexpected bite to it. She softened. "I think you're a nice guy and I really enjoy being roommates—but that's where it needs to stay. Frankly, I'm glad Serena's arrival stopped whatever was about to happen. Sleeping together wouldn't only complicate things, but would be completely irresponsible of us." She took a small sip of coffee. "Therefore, I think we should stay friends. Okay?" She forced a smile onto her face.

He was silent for a moment. "Blair, I—"

"Morning!" Serena said brightly, walking into the kitchen and interrupting Dan for an irritating second time. Serena looked effortlessly chic in an outfit that she, most likely, just threw on. She hadn't even been there a day and Blair was already feeling the jealousy creep in. "What's on schedule for today?" She poured herself a cup of orange juice and popped a grape in her mouth.

Blair moved her eyes from Dan to the blonde. "Bendels and a day at the spa. And then we're meeting Nate tonight for dinner."

"Oh Natie!" she squealed. "I can't wait to see him!" She turned to Dan. "Will you be coming?"

"Oh no—" Dan started.

"Sure," Blair cut in. "Why not? We're all friends, right?" Her eyes bore into his; if her message wasn't clear three minutes ago, it was now.

Dan sighed and smiled at Serena. "Sure, I'd love to come."

"Great." Blair took the last sip of her coffee. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have some shopping to do. Serena?"

Serena nodded at her cue, following Blair out of the kitchen. Before she was out of sight, she turned around once more. "See you later, Dan." She gave a small wave.

Blair's heart fell at the natural flirtatious tone of Serena's voice. This was going to be a long day.

A/N: Don't kill me? Review please! :)